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Friend, SPLC Intelligence Project Director Susan Corke testified yesterday before the House Committee on Homeland Security’s “Countering Violent Extremism, Terrorism, and Antisemitic Threats in New Jersey” field hearing. You can read Corke's full remarks here – or see below for an excerpt. I am Susan Corke, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today for this important hearing, which comes at a precarious time for American democracy. There has been a disturbing rise in antisemitic incidents in New Jersey and elsewhere in the country. This uptick in hate-fueled activity is part of a larger hard-right movement that stokes the fires of antisemitism, promoting racism, fear and extremist violence. Antisemitism, in addition to being a toxic form of prejudice, is also an animating feature of white nationalist ideology and often a leading indicator that a society is more broadly infected and divided by racism. Established in 1971, the SPLC has been tireless in finding and rooting out hate and extremist groups to create a more fair, inclusive and unified nation. The Intelligence Project, which I direct at SPLC, has deep expertise in monitoring and exposing – as well as countering – the activities of hundreds of domestic hate groups and other extremists across the country – including the Ku Klux Klan, the neo-Nazi movement, antigovernment militias and others. White supremacy has gone mainstream, which increasingly threatens people of color, our communities, our education system and democracy itself. The “great replacement” narrative has become mainstream on the political right over the past few years. This racist conspiracy theory, which says there is a systematic, global effort to replace white, European people with nonwhite, foreign populations, provides the central framework, rooted in antisemitic ideology, for the white supremacist movement. The theory has normalized and fostered greater acceptance of political violence in America and has motivated many deadly, terror attacks. Having lived in New Jersey with my African American, Muslim spouse and daughter, I can attest that New Jersey exhibits some of the most incredible benefits of living in a multiracial democracy. However, it was antisemitism which fueled a December 2019 deadly shooting at a Jewish market in Jersey City, New Jersey, where I was living at the time. I want to urge the committee to focus on the need to invest more in the prevention of radicalization. We want to stop hate crimes before they are committed, and build stronger, more resilient communities. In solidarity, Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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